Elementary (13 page)

Unlike that misguided lady, Sophia did not expect El to identify with the useless princess. Indeed, she considered it a sign of progress that El had not identified with the knight. But that left the dragon, considered by El to be misunderstood and beleaguered. Sophia consoled herself with the thought that El's newfound ability to breathe actual fire showed excellent control, and wondered if the departed governess would dare to tell anyone about this. She suspected not. Bedlam was an unpleasant place to reside.

On the surface, everything seemed to be going well, but Sophia knew better. She often found herself fingering the glass vial that she had worn around her neck ever since El's father had given it to her. She tried to prepare herself mentally for the crisis that was bound to come. She hoped she wouldn't need the dose in that vial, but if she did, it was going to be right at hand. And El seemed to be getting, well, twitchy. She was restless, her mood was erratic, and she was frequently downright snappish. Sophia knew what was coming but couldn't seem to find a way to discuss it with El. At least the girl knew how a woman's body functioned, and after years of assisting her father in surgery, she wasn't likely to have hysterics at the sight of blood.

 • • • 

Unfortunately, the morning El woke up and found her own blood on the sheets of her bed, she did have hysterics—not because she didn't know what was happening to her, but because she did. Sophia was nudged awake by an uneasy salamander who flashed her a series of images starting with El's awakening and ending with El's bed on fire. With El in it.

Grabbing her least-flammable dressing gown, Sophia belted it firmly over her nightgown as she ran toward El's bedroom. She ran past a group of hysterical housemaids and through the footmen throwing water on the bed in an unsuccessful attempt to extinguish the fire, reached into the flames to pull El out of bed, and poured the dose from the vial down her throat. El went limp. Sophia rolled her on the floor to extinguish the flames on her clothing while she used her own magic to make El's hair stop burning. With El unconscious, the footmen were able to put out the rest of the fire, although Sophia suspected that the bed was going to be a total loss. Certainly all the bedclothes were.

She supervised having El bathed, dressed in a clean nightgown, and put to bed on a cot in Sophia's room. Then she sent a salamander to El's father to tell him that she needed another dose for the vial. And she sent another one with an urgent message to her favorite doctor. She needed Dr. Sarah Clarke's help, for more than one reason.

 • • • 

The good news was that Lady Mary had taken to her bed in hysterics and been dosed with laudanum, and Nurse was looking after her. The possibly not good news was that the Duke “desired Miss Pearce to wait upon him at her earliest convenience.” Sophia shed her charred dressing gown, bathed quickly, used magic to dry her hair, and dressed to look as proper as she could.

The butler led her to the Duke's rooms and turned her over to the valet, who conducted her to the Duke. He was seated in a wheeled chair, contemplating a chessboard, but his eyes were sharp when he looked her over. He pointed to a chair across the chessboard. “You, sit,” he said. He looked across the room at his valet and added, “You, out.” The man bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

“What happened?” the Duke barked at Sophia.

“May I speak plainly, Your Grace, or do you prefer ladylike circumlocutions?”

“I get enough of those from my daughter. Just tell me what's going on. How did my granddaughter's bed happen to catch on fire?”

Sophia sighed. “Oh, El did that.”

“She deliberately set her own bed on fire while she was in it?”

Sophia nodded.

“In heaven's name,
why
?”

“She had just discovered she had become a woman, and she doesn't want to be one.”

“So she tried to kill herself?” the Duke asked incredulously.

Sophia considered that possibility as well as the damage she had sensed inside El's body, then shook her head. “I don't believe she was thinking straight, but she appears to have been trying to give herself a hysterectomy.” At his blank look, she added, “A surgical operation that removes a woman's womb.”

“What? But that would ruin her chances of making a good marriage!”

“Why on earth would you think that she
wants
to make a good marriage—or any marriage at all? She's a person, and ever since her mother got home, she's been treated like breeding stock!”

“I know her father dressed her as a boy, but surely she knew she was a girl.”

“No, she wasn't just
dressed
as a boy; she was
raised
as a boy. Tell me, Your Grace, do you like doing embroidery?”

“Of course not! I don't even know how—boys aren't taught it. It's for girls.”

“Precisely. Eleanora doesn't know how to embroider, either, and she has no desire to learn. What your daughter is insisting upon is essentially forcing a twelve-year-old boy to become a girl—no, worse, a young lady. And while she has a girl's body, she has a boy's experiences. Boys are expected to grow up to be somebody, while girls are expected to marry and become an adjunct to their husbands. Your daughter is asking Eleanora to become less than she is
now
, and Eleanora knows it. This would be difficult for anyone, but for a Fire Master, it's a potentially fatal disaster.”

“Particularly when she's just coming into her magic,” the Duke said grimly.

Sophia looked at him in horror. “Didn't anyone from London contact you about this situation?”

“I'm afraid they've pretty much ignored me since my legs gave out and I retired to the country.”

“Merciful heavens,” Sophia breathed, almost in prayer. “The White Lodge trained me for this assignment and sent me here precisely because at least a few of them have enough imagination to predict something like this. El is not ‘just coming into her magic.' El is a trained Fire Master; her father has been working with her, both magically and in his medical practice, for several years. She's stronger than I am and possibly stronger than you are. The old boys' club is furious with your son-in-law because they were planning to bring her into the lodge in the next few years. Now they can't—unless they decide to admit women. They sent me here to be her governess because they're terrified that she's losing control of her magic due to the major changes in her life.”

The Duke's jaw tightened. “They sent an unstable
Fire
Master
into my home and didn't do me the courtesy of informing me?”

“Possibly they thought you would notice as soon as you saw her.”

“Haven't seen her yet. Raising a girl is her mother's job.”

“In general, yes. In this particular case, I think Lady Mary is the worst possible person to have charge of El's life. For a start, she doesn't even know that magic exists. Her idea of raising her daughter is to dress her up like a doll—imagine a twelve-year-old boy forced to wear pink dresses with all the ruffles and frills that can be squeezed onto them, and you'll get some idea of how El feels about this. She is not happy, and an unhappy Fire Master is dangerous.”

“So they sent you to teach her to control magic.”

“To reestablish her control over it. It was under control until her mother came back to London, and things were going fairly well until this morning.”

“Could Eleanora
really
burn out her own womb?”

“She certainly knows anatomy, and she has enough control of her body to breathe fire.”

“She can do what?”

The explanation of the governess and the fairy tale produced the first laugh of the morning.

“So what do we do next?” the Duke asked. “Any suggestions?”

“Several,” Sophia said. “First, you should know that I've sent for a woman doctor I know. Not only can she treat whatever El has done to herself, she will serve as an example that being female does not mean that you can't be a doctor, which
is
what El was being trained to do. Second, it would help if you could take an interest in her—as a
person
, not as a girl. She's been learning chess because she heard that you like it, and she's reached the point where she beats me every time.”

“I believe I could take over her instruction in that field.”

“Third, is there any way you could send Lady Mary back to Switzerland, preferably accompanied by her old nurse? That woman is a tyrant, and they're trying to force El to be something I don't think she'll ever be.”

“I am not sending Mary back to Switzerland. There are reasons for that . . .”

“She took a lover.” Sophia looked at him steadily. “The servants talk.”

“What did you do, put salamanders in all the fires?”

“And I'm sure you never had an undine hide in the water barrel.”

The Duke raised a hand to acknowledge the hit. “What about the Dower House?” He shook his head. “No, too close. I'll look at my estates and find something small and isolated, and I'll send Nurse with her. I never liked that woman, but my wife thought she was a jewel.”

“If what you want to produce is someone like Lady Mary, perhaps she is.”

“I don't want another Mary. When Eleanora is well enough, bring her to me, and I'll teach her to play chess properly. You can go now.”

Sophia rose, curtsied properly, and left.
A bit abrupt, but I think there's a good heart under the gruff exterior. It might serve. I pray it will
.

 • • • 

The drug Sir Nicholas had provided was strong enough to knock his daughter out until he could get there from London. Dr. Clarke arrived just before him, and the two doctors examined Eleanora and talked medicalese over her bed until Sir Nicholas declared there was nothing he could do for her and took Sophia's vial to refill it, leaving Sarah and Sophia to care for El.

“If she was trying to destroy her womanhood, she came pretty close to success,” Sarah remarked. “It's sad that her family wounded her spirit so greatly.”

“If you're lucky, you won't meet her mother,” Sophia said grimly, “and His Grace relieved Nurse of her duties after our talk this morning. I think there's hope if he can come to appreciate El as she is, rather than trying to force her into the ‘young lady' mold. She'll never fit. She's not going to be an ornament of their society.”

“Of course not,” Sarah smiled. “She's one of us.” She looked down at the unconscious girl on the bed. “I'll start the repairs and let her body finish them. She's young and strong; she should be fine. On the other hand, it might be the better part of valor to refrain from making any statement that would suggest she retains her ability to bear children. We'll tell her when she's old enough for it to be an issue, but perhaps it is best if her family does not regard her as a candidate for the marriage market.”

“Discretion being the better part of valor.” Sophia grinned at her friend. “I agree. Can you stay here until she wakes?”

“I'll stay. If she's going to be one of us, it's best that she start by seeing what we are.”

“What we are,” Sophia agreed, “and what she can become.”

Cedric Johnson

On an early autumn's evening, two girls held court on the wide back lawn of an old estate nestled deep in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. Their audience had come far and wide from the forest around them. Had there been any strangers around to watch, they would have said there had been no other sight like it.

The darker of the two, with red hair and ruddy, freckled skin, told the collection of rabbits, deer, and rodents grand tales of adventure that had been told to her. Her vibrant, energetic voice filled the clearing with tales of dragons and damsels, knights and wizards, and the woodland creatures hung on her every word.

The other girl, platinum haired with a smooth, milky complexion, cared for the animals while her sister entertained them. They sat perfectly still as she brushed out their fur and hand fed them spare vegetables from the garden. Occasionally she would join her sister in playing a part of the story being told, adding her gentle, melodic voice to the air.

Clara Wohltat strolled along the terrace of the estate's mansion, smiling with quiet pride as she watched her teenage girls at play. They were a true blessing to both her and her family, bringing life back to this ancient place.

It wasn't all that long ago that Clara and the entire estate had both been held prisoner in the earth itself. It was the untapped courage and unique talent of a down-on-his-luck magician that had set her free. There wasn't a day in the last fifteen years when Clara wasn't grateful for everything the magician Thaddeus Wohltat, now her husband, had done for her, her family, and the love they shared. That she had borne him two beautiful daughters was more than she had ever dreamed of giving in return.

Even though the girls were twins and had many of the same mannerisms, they were still very different. Garnet, with a spirit to match her fiery red hair, was headstrong and a bit rough around the edges. Pearl, as smooth and graceful as her namesake, was as calm and collected as her sibling was rambunctious. Garnet was fiercely loyal and protective of her sister, while Pearl was often the voice of reason whenever they wanted to try something new.

The other thing Pearl and Garnet shared was their family's affinity for magic. Almost as soon as they'd reached schooling age, Garnet had displayed a natural talent for spells for finding plants and coaxing them to grow—what Clara had called “kitchen magic,” much to Garnet's distaste—while Pearl had an affinity for spells to sense, communicate, and build rapport with animals.

There was even talk from their great-uncles, Silas and Ephram, of giving them formal training through the family's White Lodge, but only if both of their parents approved—and then only once Pearl and Garnet had “left the girls they were behind and came as ladies.”

But when you're a teenager of fourteen, becoming an adult seems a long, long way off, not to mention a very silly notion.

As if sensing her mother's eyes upon them, Pearl looked up and around. Spotting Clara, the girl placed a hand on her sister's shoulder as she pointed at their mother, and they both waved energetically at her. Clara's smile widened as she waved back, then beckoned the girls to her.

Reluctantly, the girls stood and bid farewell to their audience. The woodland creatures Pearl had called dispersed back into the woods as Garnet and she walked up to the mansion and their mother.

Garnet watched the lawn until the last of the animals had disappeared, then turned to Clara. “What is it, Mama?” she asked. “We were still having fun with our friends.” Pearl nodded in agreement.

“I know you were, dear,” Clara replied. “But the sun has almost set, and it's already chillier than you might think. Go and get yourselves cleaned up; supper will be ready soon. Your father will be done with his studies presently, and we shan't keep him waiting.”

“Yes, Mama,” Pearl and Garnet said together. They were disappointed that their day's fun was at an end, but just as pleased that there would soon be food to fill and warm them for the cold November night ahead.

 • • • 

Pearl gasped and bolted upright in bed. She clutched at her nightgown, the dream she'd woken from still fresh in her mind. Garnet and she had been running through the forest together toward a distant light. They had been running faster than the strongest wind, but the light never got any closer. Then suddenly, they had slammed into an unseen barrier, the shock of which had jarred her awake.

She lay there quietly for a minute, breathing deeply and calming her heartbeat. When all had returned to normal, she turned over onto her side to see if she had disturbed Garnet, only to discover that her sister had just turned over to check on her.

“I had the strangest dream,” they both whispered at the same time.

The two girls quietly giggled at their synchronicity. Then Garnet said, “Could you close the curtains, please? I won't be able to get back to sleep otherwise.”

Pearl blinked, then took a good look at her sister. She had put no thought into why she could see Garnet so clearly in the middle of the night. Now, she could see that the room was filled with pale white moonlight, brighter than any she'd ever seen.

“That's odd,” she whispered. “The full moon isn't for another week.”

Garnet nodded sleepily. Pulling back her covers, Pearl swung her feet to the floor. She stood up and turned, then gasped a second time, much louder than the first. Garnet lifted her head from her pillow to see what had startled her sister, then sprang upright with a gasp of her own.

The light filling the room wasn't coming from the moon in the window. At the foot of their beds stood a young man not much older than Pearl and Garnet. He was barefoot, dressed all in white, and radiated the pale light. He looked at the girls and smiled, his expression sad yet reassuring.

The glowing figure silently walked over to the balcony door, stepped through it like a phantom, and vanished from sight, taking the light with him. Without a moment's hesitation, Garnet leaped from her bed and ran to the balcony door, throwing it open and going out with Pearl right behind her.

There was no sign of the man. Garnet stepped to the railing while Pearl stayed closer to the doorway, both girls shivering in the freezing night air. Their breath hung in clouds around them as Garnet looked everywhere for any evidence of their visitor.

Pearl was ready to suggest they head back to bed and forget the whole thing when Garnet took her arm and pointed at the back lawn. Pearl rubbed the sleep from her eyes and peered down. Near the edge of the lawn where they had entertained their woodland friends earlier that day was a magnificent stag glowing with the same light that had filled their bedroom. He gazed back up at them. A minute passed in silence. Then the stag turned and walked toward the trees. He paused, looked back up at the girls, flicked his ears, and trotted off into the woods.

Garnet raced back inside and was at the door to the hallway by the time Pearl has closed the balcony door. “What do you think you're doing?” Pearl demanded.

“What does it look like I'm doing?” countered Garnet.

Pearl frowned and shook her head. “We'll be punished for this for sure. That could have been anyone—or any
thing.
And you're just going to accept an invitation in the middle of the night?”

Garnet sighed impatiently. “Are you coming or not?”

Pearl simply shook her head again and followed her sister out of the house, stopping only to grab overcoats to throw over their nightgowns. “We need to get shoes,” she whispered, gazing out toward the woods.

Garnet squatted down. “No time for that. But I know a spell that will make the ground soft under our feet. It will be like walking over a blanket.” She traced a pattern on each of her feet while muttering the words to the spell, then repeated the ritual on Pearl.

As soon as she was done, Garnet took off across the lawn as fast as her legs would take her. Pearl kept up without a problem, and soon they reached the edge of the woods. They stopped to look around, and Pearl spotted their mysterious creature. He had stopped several yards into the woods and, once seen, made the same beckoning gesture and took off running.

The girls gave chase without a second thought. Garnet's spell held true as they ran, and the exertion drove the chill from their bodies. Garnet even found the breath for an occasional giggle as the stag darted around trees with natural grace. It was a struggle to keep up, but they managed. This was the fastest they had ever run, and the longest.

Just as the girls' stamina was waning, the radiant stag put on a sudden burst of speed, then vanished a few moments later. Pearl and Garnet reached the spot where he had sped up, and with a fearful gasp they skidded to an abrupt halt and clung to each other to keep from falling off the sheer cliff at their feet.

The sisters stared out over the cliff and into the small mountain valley below. There was no sign of the strange visitor. No light shone but the moon, no sounds came from the forest below, nor were there even any footprints but their own.

They stood there for a moment, hoping for a sign that they hadn't imagined the whole thing. Then Pearl silently took Garnet's hand and turned around toward the estate. Garnet accompanied her without protest.

 • • • 

“One of the servants said he saw the two of you head out into the forest last night,” their mother said over breakfast. “Is this true?”

Garnet fidgeted with her meal, not looking at either of her parents. Pearl, as usual, spoke up and told of their witching hour adventure, hesitant but not leaving out any truths. When she was finished, she looked up. To her shock, Clara and Thaddeus were sitting stock-still, paying very close attention to her every word.

“And you're sure of this?” asked Thaddeus. Pearl and Garnet both nodded.

Already pale from Pearl's recounting, Clara looked to be on the verge of tears as she gripped her husband's hand. Thaddeus squeezed back before rising and kissing his wife's forehead. Turning to his daughters, he said, “Come to my study when you've finished eating.”

He gave no explanation as he departed, and the girls asked for none. Pearl and Garnet had learned quite early on that if something was important enough, they would be told everything in the fullness of time. With that in mind, the girls finished their breakfast, hugged their still-shaken mother, and went to present themselves before their father.

Thaddeus removed a small object from an ornate box on his desk and clutched it tightly as he crossed the room and sat down near the side table. He then bade the girls sit on the divan opposite.

“I'll make this as simple as I can,” Thaddeus said. “Not because I think you wouldn't understand, but because there is much that even I don't understand. This spirit you saw is very important to this family. He was your mother's brother. The valley that he led you to was the very same one where I rescued your mother. I daresay that without him, you two would not be sitting here. I wouldn't have broken the curse on your mother and this estate had it not been for his guidance . . . and sacrifice.”

Garnet politely spoke up. “You've told us the story many times, Papa. But why would this spirit show up to us now, after all this time, and not to you or Mama?”

Thaddeus shook his head. “I don't know, my little gem. But one thing I've learned from your uncle is to never question the magic that comes your way, because it does so for a reason. I can say this with absolute confidence, though: since the spirit came to the two of you, there may soon be a reason for you to have this.”

The Master held out his hand and opened his fist, revealing the pendant he'd been clasping. Pearl and Garnet marveled at the delicately carved crystal bull figurine, its polished facets catching and dispersing the faint light coming through the closed curtains.

“What is it, Papa?” asked Pearl.

Thaddeus leaned over and held the pendant between his daughters, who gazed at it in awe. “It is a focus that belonged to a powerful Earth Master,” he explained. “Merely decorative by itself, but in the hands of a skilled Magician, it helps magnify their magic many times over. It is not to be treated lightly, but I trust you two to use it wisely—though I hope you'll not have to use it at all.”

Both girls were enraptured by the crystal pendant, but it was Pearl who reached out for it and let it fall into her hand. Normally Garnet would have reminded Pearl that she was the older of the two “by a whole minute,” and appoint herself caretaker of their newly shared trinket. This time, however, she made no such protest, and in fact seemed content to see the pendant in her sister's hands.

Thaddeus got up and hugged both his daughters, then placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “Guard it with your lives, dear ones,” he said, looking each one in the eye. “It may very well be what guides yours in the days to come.”

 • • • 

Before the sun had reached high noon, the clouds had swallowed it, and snow began to fall, the first of the season. It fell quickly and deeply, and within an hour all traces of color save the trunks of trees had disappeared. Not wanting to disturb their parents any further, Pearl and Garnet bundled themselves up against the cold and headed outside.

Pearl loved this time while the snow was still falling. She delighted in the feel of the flakes on her face and how it gathered in her hair and on her clothes. Garnet didn't care about such things. She much preferred running around and playing in the snow to the sensation of it spilling down.

Soon the sisters were in the woods. The high winds and autumn rain had cleared much of the foliage, letting the snow descend unhindered to blanket the forest floor. Once well inside the trees, Garnet stopped playing around and began collecting plants and herbs that wouldn't survive long past the first snow. Pearl stayed close by, whistling different bird songs and listening for replies.